Sounds regimental does it? This popular phrase from our army boys and our orientation camps cannot seem to be away from the limelight. In fact, we ever see this in animals! The meerkat, a small mammal found in South Africa, has an efficient system of hunting.
They display altruistic behavior within their own mob with one or more meerkats being the sentry. They keep a lookout while others are foraging or playing, or to warm them during hunting when predators appear nearby. They would give a warning bark and the rest of the mob would quickly run and hide nito the many bolt holes they created across their territory. These sentry meerkats would continue barking until the predator disappears. The rest of the meerkats will appear when the sentry meerkat stops signaling. These sentry meerkats are easy to spot as they are also on their toes, literally! Below is a clip which shows the warning bark right in the beginning of the clip.
From the video, we notice two things. The first is the warning bark and the other, being the dedication and commitment of these meerkats towards their own mob. In fact, the popular TV series, Meerkat Manor is a study done by the University of California on these cute little creatures. Meerkats actively teach their young and it is through learning that the pups learn which animals cannot be eaten and which can be. And it is also through learning that they learn how to be a sentry!
Just to reinforce this point. Below is another video on the hunting behavior of the meerkats.
So the bottom line is that, this efficient system was not built in a day. Rather, it is the repeated learning from experiences that the young knows their role and routine. Apart from instinct, these meerkats rely on conditioning to understand how to hunt, what to do when they meet with a predator, etc. So I guess those boys in NS should not be complaining. After all, its all for one and one for all right?
References
1. David Attenborough (2000). Meerkats United
2. Thorton, Alex, and McAuliffe, Katherine (2006). “Teaching in Wild Meerkats”
3. National Geographic. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/03/0315_060315_meerkats.html
4. BBC News. “Meerkat pups go to eating school” http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/5177594.stm